TIL that when Joseph Stalin's wife died he stated, "This creature softened my heart of stone. She died and with her died my last warm feelings for humanity." He became so distraught during her burial that he threw himself into her open grave and had to be dragged out.

Losing the greatest love of your life is so much worse than people imagine. At first I tried to carry on doing the things that we'd always done together. That didn't work. I then started projects/hobbies that we'd never contemplated. That didn't work. Then I started doing nothing. That's really not working.

Forever changed. She was in my life for 26 years, my wife for 15. Now I'm starting over in my early 40s...

...but I probably won't attempt to create a world superpower assassinating my rivals and trashing the economy. Probably.

Nope. Stalin actually created one of the greatest economic wealth-expansion periods in history - certainly Russian history.

In the 1950s the Soviet Union, having reconstructed the ruins left by the war, experienced a decade of prosperous, undisturbed, and rapid economic growth, with significant technological achievements most notably the first earth satellite. The nation ranked in the top 15 most prosperous countries.

This is a common misperception in the West. Let this grieving man go nuts - just refrain from the tyranny bit?

...but I probably won't attempt to create a world superpower assassinating my rivals and trashing the economy. Probably.

Well in his pv assassinating his rivals was a necessary evil if you want a stable gov. Trashing the economy was an accident but he probably thought that he was doing what was best for the next generations.

My great great grandfather knew Stalin and miraculously survived the great Purge in 37. He even once straight up declined Stalin summoning him. If anyone cares I can tell the full story. Full story since at least one person wants to hear it and I think its actually interesting:

My GG grandfather was a man name Geronti Kikodze, he is a man know in Georgia (Stalin is also Georgian) primarily as a writer. What people don't know is that he used to be a political activist before the soviets took over Georgia in 1921. Before 1918 Georgia was under the protectorate of the Russian empire. Before the fall of the empire Stalin and my Grandfather both wrote for an illegal newspaper that was critical of the regime, there they met each other and became friends. Geronti became the only independent politician to sign the declaration of independence or Georgia and Stalin moved on to Russia and slowly rose to power ( not sure of the exact history there). Now the question might arise why would they want to Purge Geronti. In the year 1937 everyone considered remotly intellectual was purged. My grandfathers other grandfather was abducted at night and killed, just because he was the chief engineer for the first hydroelectric power plant in Georgia. Even though Geronti basically became self exiled he was still critical of the government as you can see even from the only wiki (his name is mentioned in red) article I manged to find. They employed my great grandfather to translate Marx's manuscripts, but he had no vital role for anything. Now Stalin personally signed the death sentence of many people, but to my grandfather knowledge he often asked: We are not disturbing Geronti's translations right? Now why Geronti lived to reach an old age is somewhat of a mystery. My Grandfather theory is that Stalin who had a lamed left hand often was ridiculed and treated as a lesser being. Geronti didn't treat him like that he treated him as an equal and friend maybe Stalin still had some warm feeling for humanity in Geronti, who knows. Fact is that he always slept with a bag under his bed ready to run at any moment, a moment which luckily never came. sorry for any spelling errors don't have spell check here

Beria (the person also mentioned in the wiki article, Stalin's 2nd in command ) was also super f-ed up. He liked some married women so he had her husband killed and stopped by every day at her house with his car and honked outside her windows for to respond. I am a little blurry on the details, but that's what my Grandfather told me.

there is lots of interesting soviet stories in my family. One relative escaped the soviet prison in siberia 5 times and only died a few years ago. He also wrote a book that everyone in Georgia knows and met the Dalai Lama in a prison train( not sure about that). There is a movie in Georgian about him Chabua Amirejibi. But my grandfather really knows those stories better than me.

My great grandfather escaped Gulag 2 times. He was placed in one of the islands and you could only escape through frozen water. It was so cold that his ears were frozen too. I am told he was placed with Levan Gotua. He escaped from Gulag to Tbilisi. He didn't have permission to live in Tbilisi that's why he lived in Telavi. He knew that his family was going to be switched to Gulag and that's why then he asked Soviets to join the military and save the family. My grandfather was 3 years old when he last time saw him. He only remembers some kind of man hugging him.

Eh, it's more complex than that. Stalin was ruthless, but he had ideals that he fought for and believed in. He didn't have a problem with using state repression against political enemies, but he was horrified by how far the purges went and had Yezhov executed for it.

People like Stalin get shit done on a very large scale because they have a goal and an active hatred for any obstacles. Unfortunately, getting shit done on a very large scale at that speed usually results in a lot of bad shit too.

People like Stalin get shit done on a very large scale because they have a goal and an active hatred for any obstacles. Unfortunately, getting shit done on a very large scale at that speed usually results in a lot of bad shit too

We forget that the villains of history were human. Humanizing them is important, to remember that the people of today are equally as capable of becoming monsters as they were. The "It could never happen to us" mantra is dangerous.

This is true, but people forget this very easily if the villain looks different and speaks a different language. Many people think terrorists in the Middle East are le pure evilz and hate us for our freedom.

I feel like the fanaticism of the middle east was fueled by propaganda (I've seen fingers pointed at Saudi Arabia for that), fed by instability due to world powers playing with puppet dictators (Russia and US for sure, maybe china? Not the best informed there), and armed by arms shipments for said puppet dictators from the same world powers.

In a hundred years, I'm fairly confident declassification of documents will make it clear that the developed world clearly created this problem. That's not to excuse the actions of those individuals, but it'll probably be clear that they were manipulated into that course of action

Usually if I mention this, I get downvoted harshly. Even when that exact set of conditions is now thought to have created Osama Bin Laden and 9/11.

The West did create the cluster fuck that is the middle east right now. We've known that for years. After WW1 we drew artificial lines for boarders with no concern over how the people inside those lines would react. Then from the cold war on the CIA and Russian have been funneling weapons into the region for one reason or another, to fight the Russians, to fight the Turks, to fight the Syrian government. The West 100% is responsible for what is going on there right now, we destabilized the region by forcing changes in territory then just pumped it full of guns.

Powerful people and corporations have influenced colonial and military actions for a very long time. All great powers do it, it's not a just the present day US. Unfortunately, things rarely work out the way the powers want

As the world powers play chess, the poor pawns get angry. Those who want to raise an army of angry people have plentiful recruits

They thought Trotsky was the real threat. By the time they realised Stalin was entrenched in power, he was entrenched. They were all voilent, by the time they realised he would kill them too, it was too late.

I can't imagine having the will to even draw another breath. I'm so incredibly in love with her that even after 15 years, it's difficult to even let my mind imagine a scenario where she is no longer in my life.

I'm simply not interested in this existence if I'm forced to do it without her by my side.

This is what my fiancé said about me too. Although his sentiment was that he'd be conventionally "okay", as long as people accepted that the only person who could illicit genuine feelings from him was gone.

He later amended this statement to include our future spawn. Would you say that your children (if you have, or plan to have) would be an exception?

There is only one thing I want. I would like to be seriously ill, and to hear nothing more about him for at least a week. Why doesn't something happen to me? Why do I have to go through all this? If only I had never set eyes on him! I am utterly miserable. I shall go out and buy some more sleeping powder and go into a half-dreamlike state, and then I won't think about it so much.

Why doesn't that Devil take me with him? It would be much better with him than it is here.

I waited for three hours in front of the Carlton, and had to watch him buying flowers for Ondra and inviting her to dinner.

He only needs me for certain purposes, otherwise it is not possible. This is idiocy.

When he says he loves me, it only means he loves me at that particular instant. Like his promises, which he never keeps. Why does he torment me like this, when he could finish it off at once?

April 1, 1935

Yesterday he invited us to dinner at the Vierjahrenzeiten (Four Seasons). I sat with him for three hours and we did not exchange a single word. At the end he handed me, as he had done before, an envelope with money in it. It would have been much nicer if he had enclosed a greeting or a loving word. I would have been so pleased if he had. But he not think of it.

Why isn't he going to dine with the Hoffmanns? If he did, I would at least have had him to myself for a few minutes. I hope he doesn't come any more until his house is ready.

To be honest with you, I didn't read the article and assumed he only had one wife (who he was married to during his time in power and there are differing opinions over whether she simply committed suicide or if he in fact ordered her murder) so couldn't quite see this level of love from him. Evidently his outlook and opinions hardened between this first marriage and his later time in power and his unhappy second marriage along with situation with his son which I highlighted